If you use the Twitter microblogging service to publicize your business, act as its spokesperson and engage with your clients or customers in a public venue, you can supplement more-traditional advertising and marketing efforts with your social media outreach. As personable and immediate as Twitter can be, the service includes its fair share of rules and regulations. Some of the most central of those policies involve followers, following and unfollowing, including daily and overall rules and limits for many activities.

Automated Unfollowing

Unlike some social media sites, Twitter assumes that following and being followed constitute two separate acts, not two sides of a single activity. Despite that basic philosophy, some Twitter subscribers use third-party services that enable them to identify the people they follow who don't follow them back and to unfollow those individuals. If you follow substantial numbers of corporate accounts, public figures and celebrities, however, you're unlikely to see them reciprocate. On that basis, unfollowing everyone who doesn't follow you can become an exercise in futility. Using automation to accomplish it makes the situation worse.

Follower Churn

Twitter subscribers who consistently and constantly follow and unfollow large numbers of users, especially in a single day, run the risk of being suspended from the service for follower churn. This practice results in negative consequences because it correlates with the behavior of individuals who sign up on Twitter to spam other subscribers, engaging in attention-seeking behaviors designed to publicize illicit businesses. Follower churn often correlates with the use of automated programs and services designed to enable subscribers to circumvent Twitter's rules. These forms of automation also constitute rules violations.

Follower Totals

If you attempt to follow more than 2,000 Twitter subscribers, you almost certainly will see an error message telling you that you've reached a limit. Along with that overall maximum, you also face a daily follow limit of 1,000. Once you reach the overall limit, you can follow additional subscribers under only two circumstances. First, you can unfollow a number of individuals and add an equivalent number to your follow total. Second, if your follower total increases substantially, your follow limit will rise. Don't expect Twitter to publish specifics about the number of followers you need to gain an increase, however.

Following/Follower Ratios

Twitter places no limits on the number of followers any account can accrue. Because its policies that govern following and unfollowing behaviors place limits on these activities, it emphasizes the follower portion of the Twitter experience and places the self-promotional aspects second. Although Twitter publishes no daily unfollow limits, its prohibitions on follower churn and automation make it clear that trying to dump hundreds of people you follow in a single day may attract Twitter's attention, and not the kind that leads to a long and enjoyable subscriber relationship. To maintain a viable presence on the service, you want a balanced ratio between the number of people you follow and the numbers who follow you, as well as a balanced approach to your following and unfollowing activities.

About the Author

Elizabeth Mott has been a writer since 1983. Mott has extensive experience writing advertising copy for everything from kitchen appliances and financial services to education and tourism. She holds a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in English from Indiana State University.